The Festival

First held in Bellinzona, Switzerland, in 1988, "Castellinaria.International Young Film Festival” is a cinematographic event dedicated to highlighting films that deal with subjects of relevance to young people, in an attempt to encourage the production, making and distribution of good quality films."

Particular attention is paid to the films of artistic, pedagogical and humanitarian qualities with the goal of stimulating knowledge and understanding between people and cultures.

Special importance is given to the active participation of the entire school institution.

The sections

COMPETITION 6-15

Presents feature films from all over the world, lasting at least 60 minutes, suitable for an audience of children and young people aged between 8 and 15 years.

COMPETITION 16-20

Presents feature films from all over the world, lasting at least 60 minutes, aimed at an audience of young people aged 16 and over.

SHORT FILMS COMPETITION - CASTELLINCORTO

Presents a selection of short films from film schools around the world.

PICCOLA RASSEGNA

The Piccola Rassegna was created in the belief that an educational discourse on the language of cinema should be started early. A very young audience, mainly children aged 5 to 8 years, can see quality works, suitable for his age, whose theme or subject is combined with an exhibition and an animation workshop.

OUT OF COMPETITION

The out-of-competition films are presented during the Festival's opening and closing weekends, in the evenings and on Wednesday afternoons. The films proposed are aimed at an audience of families, young adults and adults. The out of competition films offer various showcases on the competitions as well as entertainment films, carefully selected for their qualities of form and content.

EXHIBITIONS AND WORKSHOPS

Castellinaria reserves an increasingly important place to exhibitions and workshops about "making cinema". The exhibitions, dedicated to the professions of cinema, are always accompanied by workshops held by professionals: makeup artists, creators of special effects, animation filmmakers and much more ...

Thanks to the "learning by doing" method, participants discover what lies behind the creation of a film and acquire the means to create their own.

At each edition, classes from primary, middle and high schools are invited to shoot a short film.

DECENTRALISATION

During the week of the Festival, some films in competition, properly chosen, are presented in other cinemas in the Canton of Ticino and in Mesolcina, Massagno, Chiasso, Acquarossa, Airolo and Soazza. These decentralizations extend Castellinaria over the entire territory of the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland.

DECENTRALISATIONS "FUORI LE MURA"

The life of the Festival does not end in the 8 days of November but continues throughout the year thanks to the decentralizations that are organized in different cantons of Switzerland (Grisons, Jura, Neuchâtel, Lucerne, Basel) and Northern Italy.